the water crisis and long term development

Below is a letter that I wrote for The Mountain Eagle that was published on November 12th, 2008. After I wrote this State formally charged Childers Oil and a spokesperson for DOW said the water was "never dangerous." While I don't pretend to know the extent of danger, any time you are required to have a no-touch advisory for the public water supply a danger does exist and it shows how vulnerable our public water supplies are. You can react to this two ways either by saying 'see, there's nothing we can do, just stay away from the river' or by saying 'This shows that we need to be more cautious and more protective as we move forward in our development. The river is ours to use.' I of course fall into the latter. In my opinion if we want to escape endemic poverty and live healthy, happy lives in the mountains that outlook is necessary.

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Everyone agrees that Letcher County's water crisis was a horrible situation. However even beyond the massive recent problems – dismissed schools, closed businesses, health impacts, and other disruptions of daily life - this event has the risk of impairing Letcher County's long-term development. Since its formation in 1997, the Letcher County Water & Sewer District has already added over a thousand dispersed customers and has been one of the fastest growing districts in the state. Yet still 59% of the county's residents lack water service and 80% lack sewer service. The district is actively closing the gap and many of the delays are beyond its control, but there is clearly much work to be done.

The backbone of their promise to the people is to provide water that is not only plentiful but also clean. When new customers are added to the system they have to disconnect their well from their plumbing to prevent backflow in which untreated well water could enter the public system. For a homeowner to disconnect their plumbing from their private well, he or she must trust that the public supply is of better than their well. Last week those served by the City of Whitesburg's water plant could not even mop their floors with the water from the tap. This crisis is not the fault of the Water and Sewer District, but it could end up endangering their credibility with current and potential customers.

Our public officials, regulatory agents, and courts must take this matter seriously if the public is to put faith in our public utilities. The responsible party should be held accountable not only for the loss of economic activity, missed school, and personal injury, but also should be responsible for a portion of the cost of extending public water services to currently unserved areas. This would lower the cost for citizens and repair the trust which has been damaged by this pollution of our North Fork of the Kentucky River.

The public should demand and should receive nothing less, but for this to happen citizens must be engaged in the process. I applaud the citizens that first noticed the smell and took the initiative to contact the authorities. We all should be aware of where our water comes from and help prevent risks. Because water moves across property lines, your neighbors' actions can affect you. Water quality is everybody's business.

As this crisis enters our collective memory and the court system, citizens must continue to protect our water resources and demand that polluters are held accountable. In the meantime though, we must keep an eye on our public officials and focus on sustainable, long-term development. It is clear that the county needs better infrastructure to build healthy lives and businesses, but miles of pipe are useless if people do not trust what flows in the pipe. Our officials need to make sure that people can trust what comes from their taps.

Gasoline range organics test suspect

Test results returned on independent samples taken by Headwaters Inc. in the aftermath of a petroleum release into the river at Whitesburg show a detection for gasoline range organics in both the river water downstream of the contamination site, and tap water from six of seven sites sampled. The test results can be found on our web site at www.letcherwater.com/datareports.html



The tests may be suspect, however. McCoy and McCoy Laboratories, which supplied the sampling bottles for the testing, now says the bottles were not the correct type for collecting samples for Gasoline Range Organics analysis, and may have made the results inaccurate.



The lab report speculates that the detection in treated samples may indicate trihalomethanes, chemicals that result as byproducts of water disinfection. Trihalomethanes include chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoform, and are formed by reactions between chlorine-based disinfectants used to treat water and organic and inorganic chemicals found in the raw water.



Two of the samples showed gasoline range organic detections in untreated water taken from the North Fork of the Kentucky River about 100 yards below the contamination site (upstream of the Whitesburg water treatment plant) and from the North Fork just upstream of the Blackey water treatment plant several miles away. Trihalomethanes should not be found in river water unless the samples are taken downstream of a treatment plant during backwashing operations, a person familiar with treated water testing said. The lab report does not mention THMs in connection with those samples. Samples taken from upstream of the contamination and from an outdoor tap at Letcher County Central High School do not show any detections.



Taps in six locations in the county and city water systems did show detections for gasoline range organics, all of which the lab attributed to trihalomethanes.



Headwaters and the Sierra Club, which paid for the sampling, plan to retest for gasoline once we and the laboratory agree on the type of bottles and the procedure required. The gasoline range organics test cannot be matched to EPA drinking water standards because the gas chromatograph test used by the laboratory reveals only a broad range of straight-chain hydrocarbons found in gasoline, not individual chemicals.

Laboratory clarifies gasoline results

McCoy and McCoy Laboratories now says tests of samples Headwaters Inc took from the Kentucky River are valid, though tap water samples could be incorrect because of the type of bottles used and the tests run.

Samples downstream of the contamination site at Ermine did show detectable amounts of gasoline range organics in the water. Headwaters is trying to determine now whether additional independent tapwater tests are necessary or even useful, given the amount of time that has passed.

The lab results we have received so far are available on the Data and Reports page of our website.

Coal companies apply for discharge permits

Several coal companies are applying for water discharge permits into Letcher County streams.

Notices published by the Division of Water today include the following:


BLUE MOUNTAIN VENTURES, INCORPORATED, US 119 & Pine Creek Road, Mayking, Kentucky. KPDES No. KYG046134. DNR No. 867-0453 A1. AI No. 97639. This permit action involves a new source discharge of surface runoff from a coal mine that enters Pine Creek in Letcher County. Permit Writer: Ross Bishop.

SAPPHIRE COAL COMPANY, KY 160 & Johnson Branch, Hotspot, Kentucky. KPDES No. KYG044585. DNR No. 867-5286. AI No. 14557. This permit action involves a new source discharge of mine runoff from a coal mine that enters an unnamed tributary of Johnson Branch in Letcher County. Permit Writer: Ross Bishop.

XINERGY CORPORATION, Route 1780 and Route 221, Saylor, Kentucky. KPDES No. KYG046298. DNR No. 848-5469. AI No. 100653. This permit action involves a new source discharge of surface runoff from a coal mine that enters Peters Branch in Harlan and Letcher Counties. Permit Writer: Ross Bishop.

Letcher County submits application for sewage treatment plant

The Kentucky Division of Water is in the process of reviewing the application for a new sewage treatment plant Letcher County plans to build near Blackey. The following notice was published today by the Division of Water:

ROCKHOUSE CREEK WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT (Letcher County Water and Sewer District), KY HWY 7, Whitesburg, Kentucky. KPDES No. KY0105368. AI No. 49671. This permit action involves a new source discharge of municipal wastewater from a wastewater treatment plant that enters the North Fork of the Kentucky River at mile point 385.25 in Letcher County. Permit Writer: Robert S. Clay, Jr.

Gasoline Range Test back

Gasoline Range Organics tests performed by Headwaters Inc. in the wake of contamination of Whitesburg's water supply are back and will be posted by early Friday.

We are still going over the results to be sure we explain them correctly, but we will get them out as soon as possible.

Diesel Range Organics tests posted

The lab report for our Diesel Range Organics test has been posted on the Data and Reports page of our web site.

Partial tests results returned

McCoy and McCoy Laboratories has returned partial test results for independent water sampling Headwaters Inc. did last week.

The tests on water from three locations in the Kentucky River and seven taps spread out of the county and Whitesburg water systems showed all diesel range organics below the reported detect limits. Since the results were not broken down into individual chemical constituents as we hoped, we are not able to report those chemicals in relation to the EPA's drinking water standards.

We will continue to decipher the results and will post the actual reports as soon as possible.

The laboratory has not yet returned the results of gasoline range organics testing, citing "matrix interference."

Headwaters test results due back

Results of independent tests done by Headwaters Inc. are expected back on Wednesday. We'll post results here when they arrive.

State tests show most contaminants below the minimum detectable level. There are some exceptions, most notably chloroform, which Headwaters board member Regina Donour tells me would be formed when hydrocarbons come into contact with the chlorine used to disinfect the city water.

We'll know more when our results come back. We are testing for gasoline range organics and diesel range organics.

State cites Childers

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT CABINET
Gov. Steven L. Beshear Dr. Len Peters, Secretary

Contact: Allison Fleck, Division of Water
502-564-3410
For Immediate Release

Department for Environmental Protection issues
notice of violation in Whitesburg water contamination incident
Don Childers held responsible for oil leakage

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Nov. 10, 2008) – The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued a notice of violation (NOV) to Don Childers of Whitesburg in relation to the leakage of waste oil from his property into the North Fork of the Kentucky River in Letcher County.
Childers was issued the NOV on Nov. 7 for degradation of surface water, failure to obtain a pollutant discharge permit, unauthorized release of a petroleum product into waters of the commonwealth, disposal of waste at an unpermitted facility, failure to notify of a petroleum release into the environment and endangering the public welfare.
Violations are subject to a civil penalty of up to $25,000 per day per violation.
The disposal site is undergoing remediation. A consumer advisory issued Nov. 1 in Letcher County restricting water use to sanitary flushing was lifted Nov. 6.
On Nov. 1, a petroleum-like odor was detected at the Whitesburg water plant. Subsequent investigation revealed a possible source of the contaminant one mile upstream of the Whitesburg Water Works raw water intake on property owned by Childers Oil Co, Inc, in Whitesburg. The oil was found to be seeping from a plastic-lined pit located on the river bank.
City and county officials, the Kentucky and Letcher County environmental response teams, the Division of Water, the Division of Waste Management and the Division of Public Health Protection and Safety participated in the response effort. Treatment and distribution of drinking water was halted and a consumer advisory was issued warning of possible dangers linked to consumption of the water. A trench was dug to intercept the oil flow into the river and activities to remove contaminated soil were initiated. Bottled water was made available to the public.
“State and local agencies acted quickly to respond to this emergency and identify the source of the contamination,” said DOW Director Sandy Gruzesky. “We will continue to work with the public water producers to ensure water quality meets state and federal standards.”

Water ban lifted; Headwaters does independent tests

The Kentucky Division of Water has told customers of the Whitesburg water works that they can resume using city water without restrictions.

Meanwhile, Headwaters Inc. (The Head of Three Rivers Project) conducted its own tests today. A team of samplers from the project collected water from the North Fork of the Kentucky River and from the county and city water systems. The samples were taken to a laboratory for independent analysis.

The city has been without usable water since Saturday after petroleum contamination was discovered in the North Fork of the Kentucky River, and in the city water system. The contamination is coming from a site between the Whitesburg Plaza Shopping Center and Cornerstone Church, and behind Lee's Famous Recipe in the Ermine section of the city. Heavy equipment was on the site today digging soil from the riverbank. A boom used to control oil slicks could be seen stretched across the river just downstream of the site.

Headwaters Inc.'s board of directors decided Wednesday night to do its own independent tests after officials said it could be as much as a week before the water was usable. After a fundraising appeal this morning, The Sierra Club Water Sentinals offered to pay for lab fees and several private donors chipped in for incidental sampling costs. A team of samplers from Headwaters tested sites in the North Fork upstream and downstream of the contamination, and upstream of the Blackey Water Treatment Plant. The team also sampled tap water from three locations in the Blackey-Isom area and from four locations in Whitesburg.

The laboratory will test the samples for gasoline range organics and diesel range organics, and the results are expected to be available mid-week next week. Headwaters has committed to posting the information on this blog, and to providing it to the news media, no matter what the results.

The water problems were frontpage news in The Lexington-Herald Leader today, and The Associated Press is also now announcing the lifting of the advisory.

Water update:

The Whitesburg Campus of Southeast Community College is also closed today. The Letcher County Health Department has issued a set of instructions for water users. I'll get a copy and post those as soon as possible.

Diesel fuel spoils city water supply

Whitesburg residents should avoid using city water for anything other than flushing toilets until tests show that diesel fuel has been purged from the water system.

Diesel can cause eye and skin irritation, and if the fuel is aspirated (breathed into the lungs), it can cause swelling known as pulmonary edema, nervous system depression or excitement. Drinking the contaminated water could cause abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

The contamination was discovered Saturday, Nov. 1, in the North Fork of the Kentucky River, a little more than a mile upstream of the city water intake. Officials are not yet releasing the name of the person or persons responsible, but preliminary tests showed the petroleum came from contaminated dirt dumped near the riverbank, Letcher County Emergency Management Director Paul Miles said.

At least some restaurants had not been notified late Saturday night and were still serving food. Schools were open on Monday, but some students reported meager lunches because there was no water to cook with. Schools were closed today (Nov. 4) because of election day, and officials have announced they will be closed again tomorrow because of the water situation.

Health officials on Monday ordered restaurants not to serve eat-in meals because customers could not wash their hands in the restrooms. Most eateries were still serving take-out meals today.

The City of Whitesburg is distributing free bottled water to residents from the city fire department on East Main Street. The Lexington Herald-Leader is reporting that the water was provided by Childers Oil, the main distributor of petroleum products in Letcher County and a major owner of gas stations across the region.

A strong odor of diesel or kerosene lingers around the North Fork of the Kentucky River at Ermine, near the site of the contamination.

The contamination is the second spill of diesel fuel in the county in the past few months. Earlier this year, a tanker truck belonging to J. Follace Oil Company and carrying more than 7,000 gallons of fuel crashed on Kentucky Highway 15 at Van. The impact of the wreck cracked open the tanker and spilled its contents onto the highway. A heavy rain shortly after the accident washed much of that fuel into Smoot Creek, were county Emergency Management workers constructed an underflow dam to contain the spill. The resulting oil slick was thought to have been stopped before it reached the North Fork of the Kentucky. Smoot Creek's confluence with the North Fork is far downstream from the Whitesburg water intake, but upstream of the Blackey Water Treatment Plant.

In that case, the road was closed for about nine hours, and the highway had to be resurfaced weeks later because fuel was still seeping out of the asphalt. Roadside dirt contaminated by that spill was dug up and disposed of in a licensed landfill at Ivel, EMS Director Miles said.